Control mechanism for vending machines



Nov. 13, 1956 c. s. HEDGES CONTROL MECHANISM FOR VENDING MACHINES 2Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 24. 1952 JNVENTOR. Ww/Q5 5 Haq/ges m;

ATTORNEY.

VNOW 13, 1956 c. s. HEDGES CONTROL MECHANISM FOR VENOING MACHINES 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 24, 1952 INVENTOR. War/e5 .5.' #eq/ges UnitedStates Patent C) CONTROL IVIECHANISM FOR VENDING MACHINES Charles S.Hedges, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to The Vendo Company, Kansas City,Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application May 24, 1952, Serial No.289,858

3 Claims. (Cl. 23S-91) This invention relates to machines forautomatically vending articles of merchandise, and has for its primaryobject the provision of control structure opcrably coupled with parts ofthe operating mechanism of the vending machine itself for limiting thenumber of articles that may be vended by the machine.

It is the most important object of the present invention to providecontrol mechanism for machines of the aforementioned type much in thenature of a counter wherein is provided an index disc that may be variedto suit the desires of the operator, all to the end that as the machineis successively placed in operation by purchasers of the vendablecommodities, the index disc will be advanced and ultimately lockedagainst further rotation.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of controlmechanism as just above set forth wherein the index disc is providedwith a stop that is engaged by a spring-loaded latch after rotation ofthe disc to a point where the stop is adjacent the latch, the latter inturn being coupled with a Sold Out plate for indicating to subsequentpurchasers the inoperability of the machine, together with a slugrejector forming a part of the vending machine to automatically causethe latter to return subsequently inserted coins to the intendedpurchaser.

Another object hereof is -to provide stepping mechanism for theaforementioned index disc that includes a ratchet and pawl assemblytogether with a train of gears interconnecting the assembly and thedisc, the stepping means in turn being operably connected with manualstructure forming a part of the vending machine to the end that steppingtakes place each time the operator places the vending machine inoperation to secure an article of merchandise.

Other objects include the way in which the index disc is releasablyconnected with the train of gears to the end that the same may be variedto suit the desires of the operator; the way in which the pawl of theratchet and pawl assembly is mounted on a swingable spring-loadedelement; the manner of providing an oscillatable pin for actuating theswingable element; and many other more minor objects, all of which willbe made clear or become apparent as the following specificationprogresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the control mechanism forvending machines made pursuant to the present invention, the covertherefor being entirely removed.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, cross-sectional view through the aforementionedcover illustrating the control mechanism hereof in elevation and atright angles to Fig. 1, parts being broken away for clearness.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on lineIII-III of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on lineIV-IV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional view taken onirregular line V-V of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a transverse, cross-sectional view taken on line VI-VI of Fig.2.

The particular type of vending machine with which the control mechanismabout to be described is adapted for use, is of no particularconsequence other than the fact that the same is operable throughactuation of a driven shaft designated by the numeral 10 and illustratedin Fig'. 2 of the drawings. Such mechanism for automatically dispensingarticles of merchandise one at a time upon insertion of a suitable coinor other medium, may be housed within a cabinet 12 shown fragmentarilyin said Fig. 2.

The coin, or coins, is inserted through a slot (not shown) in theuppermost wall of a swingable cover 14 mounted on a door 16 hingedlysecured in any suitable manner to the cabinet 12 and forming a partthereof. Through the medium of a suitable chute not herein illustrated,the inserted coin is directed to a slug rejector 18 housed behind cover14 immediately below the top wall thereof. Upon reception of the coin,the customer may receive his article of merchandise simply by swinging alever 20 downwardly from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 of thedrawings. A stop not shown, limits the extent of downward swingingmovement of the lever 20, which is substantially 106 degrees in the typeof mechanism with which the control hereof is particularly adapted.

Lever 20 is operably connected with the driven shaft 10 through themedium of an endless chain 22 trained over a sprocket 24 that is in turnsecured to a shaft 26 upon which the lever 20 is mounted. Endless chain22 likewise passes around `another sprocket wheel 28 that is securedrigidly to a drive shaft 30 releasably coupled with the driven shaft 10.Such coupling includes a cross pin 32 on the drive shaft 30 and asuitable notched coupling member 34 on the driven shaft 10, to the endthat the door 16 may be swung to and from a closed position such asillustrated in Fig. 2.

The control mechanism of this invention is operably coupled with thelever 20 for actuation thereby and includes a preferably circular indexdisc 36 loosely mounted on a short stub shaft 38 to one side of, and inparallelism with, the drive shaft 30. Shaft 38 is in turn mounted on aplate 40 that is secured to the door 16 in any suitable manner. Theshaft 38 likewise, has a locking disc 42 rotatably mounted thereonbetween plate 40 and disc 36, together with a gear 44 that is secured tothe disc 42 for rotation therewith on the shaft 38.

Locking disc 42 is provided with a plurality of pairs of peripheralnotches 46 adapted to receive diametrically opposed pins 48 secured tothe disc 36 and extending rearwardly therefrom. The disc 36 is'yieldablyheld biased toward the disc 42 with the pins 48 within a pair ofcorresponding notches 46 -through the medium of a spring 50 coiled aboutthe shaft 38 and partially housed within a tubular actuating knob 52forming an integral part of the disc 36.

A second stub shaft 54 also parallel with the drive shaft 30, has asmall pinion 56 rotatably mounted thereon and always in mesh with theperipheral teeth of the gear 44. A ratchet wheel 58 is rotatably mountedon the shaft 54 for rotation with the pinion S6 to which it is attached.The shaft 54 carries a swingable plate-like element 60 having noconnection with the pinion 56 but operably coupled with the ratchet 58,through the medium of a spring-loaded pawl 62 swingable on the plate 60.

Retrograde movement of the ratchet 58 is prevented by a secondspring-loaded pawl 64. The plate 60 is held biased against a laterallyextending pin 66 on a small disc 68 by means of a spring 70, the disc 68being rigid to the drive shaft 30.

The index disc 36 is suitably calibrated as at 72 and is provided with aperipheral notch presenting a stop 74 engageable with a lateralextension 76 on a swingable Z-shaped latch 78. The latch 7S is heldbiased toward one end of its path of travel with the extension 76 ridingalong the peripheral edge of the disc 36 through the medium lof a spring80 coupled with an elongated rod S2 that is in turn joined with thelatch 73. Vertically reciprocable rod 82 is connected with a shaft 84 bymeans of a crank 86, shaft 84 having `a Sold Out plate S thereon abovethe slug rejector 13 and shiftable to and from a position where the samemay be viewed through an opening in the top wall of cover i4 by apotential customer. A second crank 90 `on the shaft and swingablethereby, has a link 92 coupling the same with the usual gate (not shown)forming a part of the slug rejector i8, which gate, when swung to oneend of its path of travel, deflects inserted coins to a coin-return boxforming a part of the vending machine.

in operation, after insertion of a coin, the operator may swing thelever downwardly as aforesaid. This actuates the chain 22 and therefore,the shaft 3l) through sprocket wheel 28 for operating the vendingmachine mechanism within cabinet 12 by means of the driven shaft 1li.Simultaneously, step-bystep movement is imparted to the disc 36 eachtime the lever 20 is swung because of the fact that the laterallyextending pin 66 on the disc 68, shifts or swings the plate 60 againstthe action of spring 70. Plate 6l), on its return movement as influencedby the spring 70, steps the ratchet 58 by virtue of pawl 62 carried byplate 60. When the ratchet 58 turns, the pinion 56 is rotated thereby toin turn rotate the gear 44 and the disc 36 because of theinterconnection between pins 48V and the locking disc 42.

As soon as the disc 36 has been stepped a predetermined number of timesto dispose the notch thereof in alignment with the offset portion 76 oflatch '78, the stop 74 contacting the portion 76, will prevent furtherclockwise rotation of the disc 36 (viewing Fig. l). When the offsetportion 76 drops into the notch of the disc 36, rod 82 will moveupwardly, the crank 86 will be swung t-o rotate the shaft 84 and theSzold Out plate $8 will be moved to a point of view by those who maydesire to purchase articles. Furthermore, as above made clear, therotation of shaft S4 also renders the slug rejector 18 operable toyreject any further coins that may be inserted by those disregarding theSold Out sign.

It is now manifest that the number of articles of merchandise that areto be vended by the automatic vending machine prior to its becominginoperative in the manner just above outlined, may be governed asdesired by the operator merely by resetting the disc 36. To do this, heneed only grasp the knob 52, pull out wardly thereon against the actionof spring 50 to disengage the pins 48 with respect to the locking disc42, whereupon the index disc 36 can be rotated separately from thelocking disc 42 and the stop 74 moved toward or away from the latch 78.

It is believed clear from the above that all of the mechanism hereindescribed, and forming the subject matter of this invention, is housedbehind the cover 14 which is normally locked to the dolor 16 and inthi-s lrespect the handle for the door i6 may likewise be housed behindthe cover 14 if desired. In Fig. 2 it is clear that a slot 94 in thecover 14, clears the lever 20 when the cover 14 is swung to and from aclosed position.

Reference may be had to my co-pending U. S. application filed on evendate herewith, entitled Refrigerated Vending Machine for one type ofvending machine having operating structure therewithin capable ofactuation by swinging of lever 20 through the coupling It iscontemplated that such machine be loaded with ice cream bars from boxescontaining thirty (30) each, with an even number of boxes loaded eachtime. Through use of the six (6) slots 46 in plate 42, the

counter may be quickly reset in multiples of thirty (30) articles. If,however, a box is split, the knob 52 may be rotated without disengagingthe pins 48 from slots 46, using extension 76 as a reference pointer. Ifthe machine is not capable of functioning well when only a few articlesremain to be vended, the counter may be Iset to become inoperative priorto full exhaustion of the storage chamber of the vendible commodity.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. In a control mechanism having a rotatable index disc provided with astop and a movable latch engageable with the stop; structure forimparting step-by-step, rotative movement to the disc, said structurecomprising in combination a stub shaft; a ratchet wheel, a pinion, and aplate element all rotatably mounted on said shaft, the pinion and theratchet wheel being interconnected; a gear secured to the disc in meshwith the pinion; an oscillatable shaft; a member mounted on theoscillatable shaft and having a pin thereon; spring means connected withsaid element and yieldably holding the latter biased against the pin;and a spring-loaded pawl on the element and engageable with the ratchetwheel for rotating the latter to rotate the pinion, the gear and thedisc as the pin is oscillated to swing the element against the action ofsaid spring means.

2. In a control mechanism having a first stub shaft, an index disc,rotatable on the first stub shaft, and provided with a stop, and amovable latch engageable with the stop;

structure for imparting step-by-step, rotative movementl to the disc,said structure comprising in combination a second stub shaft; a ratchetwheel, a pinion, and a plate element all rotatably mounted on saidsecond stub shaft, the pinion and the ratchet wheel beinginterconnected; a gear coupled with the disc in mesh with the pinion androtatable on said first stub shaft; an oscillatable shaft; a membermountedon the oscillatable shaft and having a pin thereon; spring meansconnected with said element and yieldably holding the latter biasedagainst the pin; a spring-loaded pawl on the element and engageable withthe ratchet wheel for rotating the latter to rotate the y pinion, thegear and the disc as the pin is oscillated to swing the element againstthe action of said spring means; and means for varying the position ofsaid disc relative to said gear, including a plate rigid to the gear androtatable on the first stub shaft, the disc being reciprocable along thefirst stub shaft toward and away from the plate,

a plurality of elements releasably interconnecting the disc and theplate, and yieldable means holding the elements interconnected.

3. In a control mechanism having a first stub shaft, an index disc,rotatable on the iirst stub shaft, and provided with a stop, and amovable latch engageable with the stop; structure for impartingstep-by-step, rotative movement to the disc, said structure comprisingin combination a second stub shaft; a ratchet wheel, a pinion, and aplate element all rotatably mounted on said second stub shaft,

-- the pinion and theratchet wheel being interconnected; a

gear coupled with the disc in mesh with the pinion and rotatable on saidfirst stub shaft; an oscillatable shaft; a member mounted on theoscillatable shaft and having a pin thereon; spring means connected withsaid element l and yieldably holding the latter biased against the pin;a

spring-loaded pawl on the element and engageable with the ratchet Wheelfor rotating the latter to rotate the pinion, the gear and the disc asthe pin is oscillated to swing the element against the action of saidspring means; and means for varying the position of said disc relativeto said gear, including a plate rigid to the gear and rotatable on therst stub shaft, the disc being reciprocable along the first stub shafttoward and away from the plate;

a` spring coiled on said first stub shaft for yieldably biasing theindex disc toward said plate, anda plurality of pins mounted on thatface of the disc proximal to the plate, said plate being provided with aseries of peripheral notches for selectively receiving the pins.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6Muller et a1 Aug. 29, 1916 Cate et al. Sept. 28, 1926 Sheldrick May 29,1928 Green Jan. 28, 1930 Gildmeister Aug. 30, 1932 Mills Feb. 6, 1940Nicholson June 2, 1942 Hamlin Oct. 20, 1953

